LA KINGS MOVE TO IMPROVE NEWS COVERAGE: The Kings have lured beat writer extraordinaire Rich Hammond away from the Daily News to write exclusively for their official web site, raising concerns about the quality of coverage, not to mention about Hammond’s journalistic independence. Hammond spoke to Frozen Royalty and insists that will not be a concern.

On September 23, the Kings announced that they have hired Rich Hammond, currently the Deputy Sports Editor at the Los Angeles Daily News, as their beat writer/columnist for their official web site, lakings.com, starting on October 1.

Hammond, 32, will leave the Daily News after ten years on the job. He has been covering the Kings for years and writes for the hottest blog covering the team, Inside the Kings, which has consistently been the Daily News’ top sports team blog.

“I’m grateful to the Daily News for allowing me to develop my passion for covering hockey and I’m excited about the opportunity to bring even better, more comprehensive coverage to Kings fans while maintaining the same journalistic standards,” said Hammond. Read more of this post

Two seasons ago, when the Los Angeles Kings raised ticket prices by an average of 7.5 percent, even though they had given loyal fans nothing in terms of success on the ice, I wrote in an op-ed piece:

“The Los Angeles Kings and the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), headed by Philip Anschutz and Tim Leiweke, the entertainment and real estate conglomerate that owns the Kings, sure have a lot of nerve.”

Well, AEG and the Kings apparently have more nerve than I thought.

Rich Hammond reported on May 1 that the Kings will once again raise ticket prices, claiming poverty. You can read about it here:

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